Ten Years After: An Optimistic View
Ten Years After: An Optimistic View

Summary/Abstract: The spectacular collapse of state socialism in Eastern Europe in 1989, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, were greeted by social scientists and regional experts with great enthusiasm, slight embarrassment, and considerable caution. The enthusiasm was not only justified by the political importance of the events taking place in the region, but also by expanding research opportunities and fascinating theoretical questions posed by the rapidly unfolding transformations. Critical issues that had stimulated social science debates and research for decades could be explored in near experimental conditions. Analytical and normative concepts could be reassessed and tested. In short, developments in Eastern Europe provided an unprecedented challenge and stimulus for the social sciences. [...]

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